“There was no contact” – Williams clear on West Brom situation

I have no doubt at all that Luke Williams will be glad to see the back of the last seven days.   What could have been a good week for the Swans boss turned sour shortly after the win over Luton last Sunday, got gradually worse as the week went on and then was only really saved at all by a late Joe Allen equaliser at the Swansea.com Stadium this afternoon.

The Swans boss has been the subject of much attention this week – plenty of it unwanted – after speculation last week that he was of interest to West Brom for their vacant managerial position.   The speculation went from a position of a press report to strong suggestions that he was already in contact with the Baggies, was lined up for an interview and was even ready to resign his position to make the move to the West Midlands easier for all parties.

It reached new heights on Thursday with lots of fan speculation across all sites before news started to come out from the West Brom press that Williams was not a target for the Baggies.   Both Williams and Andy Coleman backed this story on Friday with a clear statement from both that Williams was committed to the Swans and that he would be staying.

Fast forward 24 hours and Williams was reflecting back on a 1-1 draw with, ironically, West Brom at the Swansea.com Stadium thanks to Joe Allen’s stoppage time header that rescued what was a disappointing performance again for the Swans.  Attention though was not going to go away from the speculation and Williams was asked about the suggestions that, at minimum, his agent had contact with West Brom but the Swansea boss was clear as to what he said was the situation.

“There’s been no contact from West Brom to me or my agent or the football club. There’s been no contact at all,” said Williams.

“In fact, my agent has been quite unwell and been in bed for most of the Christmas period, then he phoned me up and said, ‘What have you done? What’s going on?’  I’m pleased that’s behind us. The players were excellent today. Certainly my group looked like they were unaffected by all the noise.

“It’s a situation that I didn’t help. I created a lot of the noise without meaning to.”

Williams will now be hoping for a quieter week in SA1 as he prepares his side for the 3rd Round FA Cup tie at Southampton before returning to league action two weeks today with the second South Wales derby of the season.